The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1887-03-30
A ROMANCE OF THE SEA
An Old Sailor Tells the Pathetic Stor,
of His First and Only Love.

A Darien, Ga, correspondent of Tn,
atlanta constitution writes: Three iol
ly countenanced men sat up in the
Fireman's hall the other evening cnvel.
oped in dense cloud of fragrant
smoke. Their appearance indicated
that they were sea captains. Here is
to auld lang sync,' said one, land may
the devil take low freights and adverse
winds" The toast was drank enthusi.
astically. Speaking of auld lang
sync," rcjoined another, "reminds me
of an adventure in my life that for
romance and sadness is hard TO beat. +"
The weather beaten countcnance as.
'sumed n sad expression, and slight
tremor became noticeable in the
speakers voice. II was young, then. ~
he continued, "a regular happy 60
lucky daredevil, a wears of age, and
in command of rs pretty and fast craft
rs ever skinned the Atlantic, Soc
skummeren' Uhe sea-skimmer), OF
Avendal. NORWAY. Well, as fate would
have it, an old Norwegian captain in
vited me aboard of his vessel, while
lying IN Oporto 1t was here / met the
fairy for the preservation of whose life
| afterward recklessly risked mine. 1t
is only due to her, though, to say tn at
if ever human frame were endowed
with heavenly qualities this young
daughter of typical old seadog could
boast of them. not only fell desper-
ately in love with this fair maiden, but
became perfectly oblivious to every
thing else. When with her | imag ned
the very atmosphere was impregnated
with n hallowed sweetness-whe
away from her the world seemed
dark and dreary. For two weeks
the 'Socskummeren' had been
ready for sea. but despite de-
termincd efforts to overcome my in
fatuation, could not leave the place
where she still fingered. She held me
bound in letters, which, though invisi-
bic, were stronger than the stoutest of
IRON. Day after day my conscience &C.
casionally upbraided my weakness, but
only II moment after Rugged the chain
that kept me prisoner. At last the old
craft containing my treasure left the
harbor. Socskummeren' soon followed
su {. and with the impat ence of a
prancng stesd she seemed anxious to
pass the vessel loved so we'll to fol-
low. gave orders to shorten sail. and
for days | managed the "Socskummer-
ems" speed so as to remain hes de her.
We had arranged a code of signals. and
long after the sun had sunk in the west
or before had commenced to purple
the eastern sky stood on the Socskum-
meren's deck. gazing at her AT last
during a sqnnlly night we lost sight of
her. | secured the OCEAN in all direc-
tons. but fru tessy. Three solid
weeks had passed and not glimpse
ohta ned of the other vessel. One day
when off the Bahamas we got into one
of the most violent northers | had ever
experienced. With all her stauchness
and seaworthy qualities even the Soc
skummeren Jared bally. A storm of
ten hours duration had st rred the wa.
tiers up terri bly,. The atmosphere was
hazy, and it was impossible to see any
thing more than five hundred wards /
distance. Judge, then, of my surprise
when suddenly green painted hulk.
mastless and unnavigable. made its APP
pearance on the scene. With one hand /
l held the spy glass and with the
other | grasped the rigg ng. On dis
covering the situat on all fear for the
safety of myself. crew, and vessel van
ished. On the quarterback. cling NC
to tue rail ng. saw the one who was
dearer to me than anything else on
earth. and few feet distance, as Il
seemed. in supreme desperation, stood
her aged. silvery whiskered father.
immed ately gave orders TO launch the
.